The wine cooler in The Charles F. Lucas Confectionery, the new, soon-to-open business at 12 Second Street in Troy owned by Vic Christopher and his wife, Heather LaVine. (Mike McMahon / The Record)

TROY -- Exactly a year after purchasing the property at 12 2nd Street in Troy, Vic Christopher and Heather LaVine are hopeful that their new business will debut next weekend.

The Charles F. Lucas Confectionery & Wine Bar received conditional approval from the state Liquor Authority Thursday. With 95 percent of the work done, it's that last five percent - "the nuts and bolts", as LaVine put it - that the married couple is now working on to bring their labor of love to life.

Putting aside the total of $225,000 invested into buying and refurbishing the building and the months of hard work, Christopher is excited about the opening for another reason.

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"I'm thinking I can finally shave my beard in 10 days," he said on Thursday.

As extra motivation to get the project done, he promised himself in April that he would not shave again until the business was open. Eight months later, he has a thick, black beard. Now he and his wife cannot wait to say "goodbye" to unkempt facial hair and "hello" to their future as business owners in downtown Troy.

The 1,500 square foot business will offer wines and beers with a food selection including cheese plates, and paninis. The owners' focus was on making sure the experience was not with "mainstream" products. They have worked with local food experts, like the Cheese Traveler in Albany, and ten distributors to get the right fit of menu selections.

"That's unprecedented for a business our size," said LaVine.

"A lot of distributors force certain products. But we're here to show it doesn't have to be that way," Christopher noted. They'll be serving coffee from Blue Bottle Coffee, originally an Oakland, Calif. company which now has offices on the East Coast. Espresso products will be made in a 1965 Faema President machine rescued from the basement of a local Italian restaurant. Christopher worked on the machine for weeks to get it operational again.

"This is about revival, rebuilding and reclamation," he said.

With LaVine saying, "There was also a lot of reducing, reusing and recycling."

Along with the unique food and drink, the décor is rich in recycled history. An old wooden bed frame from a River Street warehouse is now a lighting fixture. A Troy sign from Greenfield Center is hanging over the brick fireplace. Marble from a former apothecary decorates table tops. And a booth from the Trojan Hotel sits in the rear.

While renovating the former insurance building, the couple uncovered architectural assets including skylights, a walk-in cooler that will be used for wine, and intricate brick designs.

When combined, they create an inspiring ambiance.

Some have criticized Christopher for "stealing" some of the items during his employment with the city but he said, "Nothing about that story surprises anyone. Schlepping junk turned into a political issue."

LaVine said, "We want to look forward. Life goes on."

The proprietors are paying homage to the confectionery roots at the site which used to be Lucas Confectionery starting in 1863, and later Lucas Confectionery and Ladies' Restaurant, by offering desserts from Troy's new Sweet Sue's and some candy classics.

Three or four people will be employed at the site, they estimated.

In the first weeks after opening, they plan to be open seven days a week from about 3 or 4 p.m. until 11 p.m. or midnight. Eventually, hours will extend to include earlier times.

Wines by the glass will range from $6 to $12 and food prices will be between $5 to $12, LaVine estimated.

The duo, who live on the third floor of the 2nd Street building, met while working at the Tri-City ValleyCats where they said they each fell in love with the others' work ethic. "We always wanted to work together on something like this," he continued. "And we couldn't have done this project the same way on our own. She looks at things differently than I do. Our skills interlocked."

As for when they truly decided on owning a wine bar, Christopher said they had that epiphany while at Castello Plan Wine Bar in Brooklyn, where he is originally from. "It was there that we thought 'This is what we need to bring to Troy.'"

LaVine, originally from Glens Falls, added, "It fills a niche."

If this business is a success, Christopher said he already has ideas for a business to fill another niche in the city - a noodle bar. "If I lived 10,000 years, I might be able to create everything I'm envisioning for this world and this city," he said.